Rain Shout: high volume = high pressure

We curse the sky when there is drought. Then we rejoice, and bathe, and blow kisses to our plants upon the rainfall. Now that we think about it, doesn’t it seem logical to be able to reap the benefits of that oh-so-delightful rainfall for weeks following? Since I’m not here to preach doom and fear, I’m going to tell you that you can lengthen that rainfall benefit, and also why you simply can’t pass up the opportunity to do so. As a result, the environment, your plants, the gutters, and those pipes down at the water treatment plant will thank you!

Maintaining the “perfect” vanity lawn can place a high demand on our environment, our health, and our municipal utility grid. Residential communities tend to guzzle 40% of their water consumption on irrigation in a given municipality. When cities like Chicago processes 1 billion gallons of water every day for general consumption, we wonder how much we could ease this demand if we had an alternative water source for our grass and plants.

All you need to do is divert your gutter to spill into anything that will hold a large volume of liquid over time. The most common way of collecting rainwater is in a rain barrel, which is commonly made from a 50-gallon food drums. The average roof and gutter system has the capacity to fill a 50 gallon drum with only ¼ inch of rainfall.

A good formula to remember: 1 inch of rain on a 1000 sq ft roof yields 623 gallons of water. Calculate the yield of your roof by multiplying the square footage of your roof by 623 and divide by 1000.

For those of you in a city, collecting rainwater on the roof to water your household plants is a great option. I send you forth with the confidence that you will be able to convince your landlord that it is a practical and cost-effective option. It also means that his/her and your water bill is cheaper monthly. The rainwater collection will encourage rooftop gardens, and as a result cool the roof and make cooling your building easier and cheaper. The benefits are never-ending.

For those of you out in the country who might have a few more plants and acres of maintained land, this is a very cost effective option for you as well. It takes lots of water to keep those plants and that lawn healthy. Why not collect it for free and feed them the clean, untreated juice they love and deserve! You might even have the option to install multiple rain barrels on a few corners of your house or estate.

Whether you like it or not (but I think you will like it) collecting rainwater doesn’t just save you money and provide you with good plant drinking water. Rainwater collection eases our demand and impact on the municipal water grid, meanwhile keeping the environment cleaner. Rain commonly travels across our land picking up harmful chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides. After traveling across the land it dissipates to the water table and erodes our rivers, and lakes with water unfit for drinking and often times swimming. Agricultural herbicides are found in 99% of all urban streams sampled. When you think about the fact that 2.1 billion gallons of water move from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico daily, we are reminded of how much water is constantly traveling through our watershed. Since pollution from city streets, suburban lawns, and factories are of the largest of contributors to water pollution, let’s use our tools to reduce the odds of that not-so-green option.

Additionally, rainwater commonly travels down the street collecting harmful petrol-chemicals from oil and gasoline. When and if this water travels through our sewer system to the water treatment plant, it has to be treated with chlorine, lime, or calcium to restore safety. Not only do we not want to drink these solvents, but these dissolved salts, sediments, and chemicals are not palatable to our lawns and plants. When we intercept water during rainfall, we reduce the impact of all the aforementioned steps. Brilliant!

Phillip kindly wrote you a Do-It-Yourself tutorial today on how to obtain the materials and build one for your use! Check it out and get yourself leaps closer to cheaper bills, happy plants, and relaxed water treatment plants.